hmm, I find this somewhat interesting: unix.stackexchange.com/q/411503/170373

not as a question as such, but the fact that the username quite directly points to a company that sells things for money

@ilkkachu There's no problem with that if they're not spamming.

yep, they could have asked anonymously and we'd be none the wiser. But somehow it still brings forth a feeling that they should be billed for the consulting job... :)

Hah! :)

The answers to meta.stackexchange.com/questions/304500/… indicate there are people out there with entirely too much time on their hands.

that reminds me, I should go and buy some crayons.

@ilkkachu One can't have too many crayons.

I'm not sure if this one is supposed to be Brainiac or not.

cuuute

So the FCC voted to end net neutrality. Wonderful.

Not sure what that means exactly, but presumably it's bad.

Obviously, that's just in the United States, but it's not clear to me to what extent it affects other countries.

@FaheemMitha The internet has existed just fine without net neutrality for 30 years?

@Jesse_b It has?

@FaheemMitha Yes, it was initially implemented in 2015 and it's just a rebranded version of SOPA which everyone hated

people get too hung up on names

@Jesse_b Net neutrality is a rebranded version of SOPA?

Not entirely but if you search the bill for the word "transparency" you will see that it is a ton of stuff about giving the government way too much control of the internet

I don't think the ISPs are the bad guys anyway, the content creators are. Everyone is worried about being sold packages but we already are. Youtube red, hulu, netflix, HBO Go, etc

@Jesse_b They seem like different things to me. And Net neutrality seems like the most sensible and least controversial thing possible.

that being said comcast is owned by NBC who is one of the largest content creators, so they are traversing into dangerous grounds

@FaheemMitha The name does, sure....the 700 page bill that talks about how much control the FCC should have doesn't, to me anyway.

@Jesse_b Net neutrality is a 700 page bill? I'm confused.

sorry 400 pages

npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/03/12/392544534/…

"No Child Left Behind" was about better education too...(sarcasm)

@Jesse_b Yes, I see.

How fast are broadband speeds in the US these days?

@FaheemMitha Virtually unlimited in my experience although I hear nothing but complaints

I think people just expect too much. I always hear us compared to Japan and how great Japan's internet is...I lived in Japan for over 3 years and the best internet I've ever had personally was verizon fios in NJ

@Jesse_b There must be an actual speed. When I was last there in 2009, I had like 4 Megabits/sec, but I suppose it must be a lot faster now.

@Jesse_b How did you like Japan?

@FaheemMitha Was great. I'm paying $50/month right now and getting 65Mbps down and 5Mbps up

with fios I was paying for 75/75 and getting 125/125

@Jesse_b That's pretty fast. My listed speed speed is 50 down, 5 up, I think. But it throttles after a certain amount.

@FaheemMitha Yea almost all ISPs have a monthly capacity in fine print somewhere. It's because they oversubscribe bandwidth

@Jesse_b What's yours? And what happens if you exceed it?

@FaheemMitha I'm not sure. Normally you just get your bandwidth reduced for the remainder of the month. In Japan my cap was ridiculously low, like 40 GB or something. Back then I was torrenting a lot of stuff so I would hit it all the time.

@Jesse_b Reduced by how much? That's how it works here too.

It wasn't a big deal though because they didn't give you a hard time about it, I would just call them and act like I didn't know any better and that someone was using my unsecured wireless hotspot and they would reset my cap lol

I've never hit it in the states but in Japan they would cut you off completely.

@Jesse_b They definitely don't do that here. Reset the cap, that is. They try to sell you additional data.

I hit my wireless cap with verizon on my phone and the upped it by 1GB for free lol

@Jesse_b Completely? That's draconian. And not very sensible, because it's hard to enforce.

@FaheemMitha Yes but that was a weird situation. We were on base and we didn't have a Japanese ISP. Somehow it was a british ISP and it was terrible. My friends and I used to try to play online games with each other and the latency would be 200ms. We were all using the same ISP and all located in the same physical building.

When we investigated it I sent a traceroute from my PC to the person literally in the room next door to me and it took over 8 hops all the way to the UK and then back to Japan

@Jesse_b Sounds like you had time on your hands. :-)

@FaheemMitha What else do we have?

A British ISP in Japan sounds weird, certainly.

I've heard Japanese internet is pretty good.

In my experience the internet is good in any well populated area, and bad outside them

@Jesse_b Though maybe not in Switzerland.

@FaheemMitha I said well populated area :P

@Jesse_b I mean, in Switzerland, I bet it's good everywhere.

The Swiss have their own versions of neutrality.

@FaheemMitha Oh I wouldn't know. I think there population is low -- like 35K or something so I wouldn't be surprised either way

We have a town here that formed a co-op and started their own private ISP

@Jesse_b 35K?

they essentially just bought a private business line and I'm not sure how they are distributing it but they somehow are. There is talks of them selling it to the next town over now lol

@Jesse_b Yes, some US states are trying to make that difficult.

@FaheemMitha Yea I was way off, it's 9 mil. Must have been thinking of another country

I was just reading an article about that. E.g. NC.

@Jesse_b No country could possibly be 35K. That's the size of Chapel Hill.

@FaheemMitha Well actually net neutrality is a move to make ISPs considered a utility, in which case that actually makes it harder for new businesses to enter the market

@Jesse_b Oh? I don't know all the ramifications of it. I'm just concerned with the neutrality idea. I suppose they try to drag unrelated stuff in there.

Things like that are often referred to as the "big boys club" in which the big players in an industry get together and form some sort of regulatory comity that puts up a bunch of red tape around that industry making your initial investment to start out much higher

essentially making anyone currently thriving in that industry untouchable

@Jesse_b I see. But that's different from the strict notion of net neutrality. Which basically means you are not allowed to discriminate.

also being a utility would give it some other rights and government kick backs that it wouldn't need. Utilities for example can charge significantly higher prices during "peak hours"

I mean the ISPs are not allow to discriminate against anyone.

I don't think that was ever really in fear of happening. Also if you think about the agreements ISPs have with each other I think it would cause the system to crumble.

ISPs trade "internet" with each other. If one ISP started giving you a restricted version of the internet your agreement is no longer valid

@Jesse_b I don't know. I wouldn't automatically assume it as impossible.

The problem is that in many places in the US (as in other countries), local ISPs have a monopoly. So they have a lot of scope to screw customers over, at least.

I wasn't saying it's impossible, it's definitely possible although that's a different topic altogether...with current technology it would be a nighmare to manage. However I'm just talking about what would happen from one ISP to another

Plus they are often very big.

lets say CenturyLink hosts Youtube and Zayo hosts netflix. Zayo is going to start throttling or downright blocking youtube. Youtube complains to century link because they pay centurylink for the internet, not part of the internet. centurylink then complains to zayo because they have an agreement to trade internet, not restricted internet

@Jesse_b What happens then?

I'm not sure. What I know is that ISPs aren't really customers of one another, they trade routes essentially. They use equipment like the stuff Arbor sells to monitor how much traffic goes in and how much goes out, and then at the end of their pay period they hash it out. "You used more of our bandwidth than we used of yours so we split the difference and you owe us X"

if they start doing stuff that hurts each other's business those relationships will fall apart

@Jesse_b Sounds like there might be turf wars.

Yes but the internet is only the internet if it's unrestricted. Anything else is a LAN

Anyway, India doesn't have Net Neutrality. Yet.

@FaheemMitha worldatlas.com/articles/…

@Jesse_b I stand corrected.

I didn't realize that Vatacan City was so small

I think more people than that live in my old apartment complex

With the amount of cars that were always taking all the parking spots one would almost be sure of it

One of life's mysteries - why Star Wars is so popular.

And why do people go to US cinemas? They are so expensive.

Well, it's a strange world.

@FaheemMitha They didn't used to be. I think people forget. I haven't been in years but the last time I went it was like $18 per ticket, $10 for popcorn and $5 for a soda

When I was younger it would be $5 for a ticket and $1 for popcorn

@Jesse_b That's a lot of money, don't you think?

Maybe not so much in the US, but still...

Absolutely. Especially when you can get a 50"~ HD tv for $500~

But Americans are remarkably casual about spending money.

Consider how much they spend on alchohol, for example.

@FaheemMitha Most of them yes. I believe it was you a few weeks back in here that made a comment about cars and I have thought about it several times since

Which from my perspective, is incredibly expensive.

@Jesse_b Cars?

I may be wrong but I believe you were talking about Tesla and how you bought a used car for a low amount of money and it served you well

A lot of people, in my opinion, put too much value on status. I drive a toyota 4runner that looks beat up on the outside (I like to go offroading) but I just put brand new brakes on it, I keep up with the fluid changes, thing runs like a swiss watch. My wife looks down on it because of the exterior appearance.

@Jesse_b Oh. Yes, I did. USD 6000/6500. Lasted for 7 years. The one before for USD 3500, I think. That also lasted for 7 years. But that one required repairs almost immediately, and wasn't as good a buy overall. The Saturn was remarkably troublefree.

I really hate spending money unnecessarily, especially on transient things.

brand new brake calipers, rotors, and pads front and rear*

I'm generally ok with spending money on infrastructure.

Same, and I much prefer function over fashion.

Actually, American cars are often very good value. Cheap to maintain, too.

I knew someone who was really into cars, and he used to tell me how great American cars were.

Not so much anymore but I think people also over glorify the past. In perspective modern cars are immensely more reliable than old cars. I believe the difference is that old cars had less parts, making them cheaper and easier to service. A car from the 70s will have 1/3rd the overall parts of a modern car. Less things to break, easier to find and replace whats broken.

That first car I got for $3500 was a Mazda 323. Nice car, but didn't hold up as well as the Saturn. I don't think it was in as good shape when I bought it, either.

I wager that older cars broke way more often than modern cars just they were also fixed more often. Where on modern cars a few small parts can go but it would cost more to fix than it's worth.

The Saturn was in really good shape when I got it.

@Jesse_b There also have a lot more computer stuff in them.

Yea Mazda is not known for it's reliability.

Which is a mixed blessing. Software issues.

software apocalypse :p

@Jesse_b Right.

I hear that Americans spend way too much money on their cars. Change them quite frequently.

Anyway, I definitely see people spending way outside their means and I believe it is because they are worried about status

@Jesse_b Status?

Cars are an example but phones too. I use a galaxy s4 still and people look down on me for it.

If you don't upgrade every year or at least every 2 years...what are you poor?

Like what their neighbors will think?

exactly.

@Jesse_b I got a nice Asus for USD 150 or so.

Actually bought a couple more for other people.

Why would I need to upgrade my phone? It performs google searches flawlessly, I can make phone calls on it, and it even has a solitare app that I can play when I'm bored...thing is a gem.

If you pay less than that, it's hard to get something reliable.

@Jesse_b Exactly.

It's not like people earn that much, even in the US.

And living in the US is really expensive.

Plus all the taxes you have to pay.

I find it even among people in technology -- almost especially. My coworkers will say things like "How can you be in IT and have such an old phone?" I always think "How can you be in IT and fall for the marketing hype?"

@Jesse_b heh.

I'm a big believer in buying exactly as much as you need, and no more.

Yes and that sometimes means you need to buy the expensive tool

@Jesse_b Quite. I tend to buy expensive computer parts, for example.

I run a cabling business so I do some minor construction type stuff and there is a reason there are a ton of idioms like "Buy the right tool the first time or buy two tools"

Cheap things are cheap for a reason

And they are more expensive here, for example.

@Jesse_b Oh? That's outside your main job?

@FaheemMitha Yes, I'm trying to scale it back because it's more work than it's worth in my opinion lol. I started this job with the cloud company and was hoping to move into some managed hosting stuff, but now the company I work for is trying to move into managed hosting so it would be a conflict of interest

@Jesse_b Well, sometimes they are overpriced. Like those crazy cable that go for a $199 or whatever.

You have to look at value for money.

Yea well for cables people are sometimes obnoxious, but I mean for like drills and saw and such.

More expensive is not necessarily better. Though for computer stuff it often is, because it's more of a commodity thing.

@Jesse_b Sure.

And it's a racket. The good tools will be 3x the price of the mid grade tools, but the mid grade tools are just not worth it if you are going to be using them every day.

@Jesse_b Agreed.

When it comes to tools, get the best available. Within reason.

I once did a job for a guy that needed a 4k capable HDMI line and I found a really good one for under $30 that was solid copper core and gold plated. He refused to use it because it didn't say "HDCP" on the package (Which is not necessary for the cable but w/e)

@Jesse_b Sounds expensive.

Very few HDMI cables will say HDCP compliant on the package because it really has nothing to do with the cable, but the ones that do are $100+. He ended up getting a stranded aluminium core cable, which if you know about cables is far inferior to a solid copper core cable.

@Jesse_b I see.

HDCP is a copywrite protection protocol, and when in use all the devices in your A/V system must be compatible or none of them will work. People get told this and are afraid if their cables don't say "HDCP" they wont work, but a cable is just a dummy circuit completer

@Jesse_b Yes, cables don't differ that much.

@Jesse_b Do you have any experience with A/C inverters? It's hard to find good reliability/repair info about them.

@FaheemMitha Well the components they are made out of do and that is what nobody looks at. Solid core can withstand so much more bandwidth than stranded core. For that reason Cat6 cable must be solid core where cat5e can be stranded. Also the width of the cable core is important and it's material, etc.

@Jesse_b Oh

Aluminium cable gets hotter and also can't withstand heat as well as copper so you will get attenuation(?) a lot sooner with it, etc.

Are those things in the description?

@FaheemMitha I do not, I have used a few

@Jesse_b How did you find them?

@FaheemMitha Usually, they will normally market things like silver or gold plated in big letters on the box but that may or may not mean much depending on the overall construction of the cable

@Jesse_b That doesn't sound helpful. So no solid vs stranded?

@FaheemMitha When I was younger they were always around. My grandfather had one in his truck. I bought one at walmart once that plugs into a cigarette lighter.

@Jesse_b A/C inverters?

@FaheemMitha I've always found that listed on the packaging somewhere but sometimes it's hard to find

@FaheemMitha Like this? tinyurl.com/y7avgp59

@Jesse_b No. Air conditioner inverters.

@FaheemMitha Oh, then no :p

@Jesse_b Ok. :-)

I think they are not so popular in the US. Because electricity prices are low.

Last year I made one of those DIY air conditioners out of a cooler and a fan

it actually works well if you have a steady supply of ice lol

@Jesse_b Huh. High maintenance though, I imagine.

@FaheemMitha Yea in the middle of the summer you would have to fill it with fresh ice about every 2 hours. With a standard freezer you probably spend more energy making all that ice than you would running a traditional AC

Anyway, I'm sporadically trying to decide what kind of A/C to buy for my room. New A/C, replacing the old one.

my new house has no AC and I'm worried about what I'll have to do in the summer lol

I'm thinking I may just cut out a hole in the wall in the living room and frame it and put in a permanent window install like they do in hotel rooms lol

@Jesse_b You should buy an A/C.

I thought whole-house ducted A/C systems were standard in the US.

Is Gnome working well on tablets or phones?